Firefighting foams contain toxic PFAS. Could soybeans be the answer?

Jeff King has sat at the Corydon, Kentucky volunteer fire service for over 30 years. He is well aware of the dangers of work – including the one who can hide in the supplies he and his crew use to ensure the safety of others.

Many foam firefighters spray to extinguish shadows contain per- and polyfluoroalkyle substances, or APFA. Known as “chemicals forever”, PFAs are a class of chemicals made by humans that push water and oil; It is this quality that makes them effective in fighting fires that are difficult to do, like those that started with diesel fuel. Chemicals are also linked to a multitude of human health problems, problems of cholesterol reproduction high to certain types of cancer. King admits that some of the mosses he has used during his career “may or may not be good for us”.

This is why he visited Dalton, in Georgia, last year to meet representatives of Cross Plains Solutions, a company that developed a fire -fighting foam without soybeans. After seeing the foam in action, he was impressed. “The product simply works fantastic,” said King. And because he was certified without pfas, he thought: “There is nothing that could potentially make me or any other firefighter in this country that does not use it. I said to myself: “Wait a minute, it’s almost obvious. »»

There is another advantage for King in all of this: in his day work, he himself is a soybean farmer. A new application for the humble soy would be good for business.

Research to find a Fire Fire Mousse without PFAS is relatively new, because a growing set of research illuminates the harmful impact that these chemicals have on humans and the environment. Soy producers presented their harvest as a surprising solution to this problem. Although more research and development are necessary to ensure that soy -based fire fighting foam is due in the most difficult circumstances, the product draws the attention of local fire services.

“There is a good interest,” said Alan Snipes, CEO of Cross Plains Solutions. He estimated that the product of his company, aptly named Soyfoam, is now used in 50 fire services across the country, mainly in the Midwest. This is not a coincidence: Snipes stressed that many rural fire services in the middle of the country depend on volunteer firefighters. “Many volunteers are farmers and many farmers cultivate soybeans,” he said.

Cross Plains began to study the creation of a soy -based fire -based fire -fighting foam after being approached by United Soy Board. Snipes was in contact with the board of directors over 30 years ago when he worked in the carpet industry and began to use soy -based compounds to make a support for commercial carpets. He started crosserly crossed solutions about 13 years ago to produce an organic cooling gel for mattresses. Then, three years ago, the United Soybean Board offered the company funding to develop and test a biodegradable fire fight.

The Board of Directors, whose members are appointed by the American Department of Agriculture, exists to collect half a cent of the market price of each bushel of soy sold by American farmers. This process mandated by Congress, called the soybean control program, is used to finance research on new markets for soybeans.

The United Soybean Board joins forces with public and private actors, such as universities and companies, to finance the research and marketing of new soy uses. Often, it looks like investments in more durable alternatives to fossil fuels – such as using soy oil as oil replacement in tires, straws and shoes. In a partnership like the one with Cross Plains, the gap program hopes to create a business opportunity that could help farmers sell more bushels. The result is a “win-win,” said Philip Good, president of the United Soybean Board.

After King returned home to Kentucky, his fire service voted to use Soyfoam exclusively in the future; According to King, it was the first in the country to do so.

Soyfoam is not unique. There are other alternatives to foams to fight fire -based fires on the market with various formulations and applications, said Danielle Nachman, principal scientist of the applied physics laboratory at Johns Hopkins University. “They can extend to all kinds of chemistry,” said Nachman. Some are based on organic, such as a gel made from canola oil, while others try to reproduce the chemical properties of PFAs without counting on fluoridated compounds.

The big obstacle for soybeans and other fire -fighting foams without PFAS meets the requirements set by the Ministry of Defense for fire fighting and military training activity. Fire fighting foams containing PFAS were first patented by the United States Navy in the 1960s, following a series of devastating fires on aircraft carriers and other ships. In the 1970s, practically all American military bases began to use these foams for emergencies and training exercises – leading to dangerous contamination in the surroundings.

“The majority of headaches with regard to PFAS [in firefighting foams] is the military request, “said Mohamed Ateia Ibrahim, deputy assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Rice University,” due to all military bases and training activities “.

The Ministry of Defense has worked in the transition of fire -fighting foams which contain PFA – but soy has a long way to go before it could be fully adopted by the army. The Pentagon did not test the product of cross plain solutions, but Snipes said that the agency had encouraged the company to request additional funding to continue its R&D.

The Ministry of Defense did not respond to the request for comments from Grist.

Ibrahim said that he supported the development of PFAS bio-sans mosses, but that companies must be more transparent about what is going on exactly in their products. “We need more clarification on other components and if they are, as a whole, really better or not” that the foams of fire -based fires, said Ibrahim.

According to Snipes, Soyfoam is made up of things that you could find in your pantry – although when it is invited to specify what these components are, it has dismantled, calling the proprietary information.